I had a brief stint at Zalando. I left my cushy job at Gap for a lead social role at the Berlin-based retailer. The multi-brand e-commerce platform seemed on the hunt for something, hence my interview. What it was? I'll never know.

Once in, I joined a bubbly team of young millennials headed by the department lead, who resembled a character from Hackers (true story!) and constantly talked about vision. Yet, my team lacked a clear focus and vision, except when it came to numbers. In fact, the company aggressively crunched numbers around the clock.

I came to Zalando because I thought it was cool. At the time, the retailer, who trades B2C and B2B, had just bought the Bread & Butter trade show and rebranded it as B&&B. I was part of the team responsible for pushing its exclusive Ivy Park collaboration in Europe. Surely, there were colourful times ahead.

Hope morphed into frustration, and I eventually gave up. I felt blue. That's when the big revelation came; my line manager admitted, "Zalando is not cool." This probably explains why alignment was so difficult. It's unlikely this individual harboured animosity toward me; she wore pink-rimmed glasses, was a long-time DJ, and attended Skepta's show at Berghain—she seemed cool. She wasn't involved in hiring but grappled with our department head's decision once I arrived. Some people thrive under pressure, but I struggled because they only seemed to focus on numbers. Zalando is not a space for "cool" creatives.

Although my time at Zalando was a dud, I formed amazing relationships with individuals who accomplished some cool things. One of my friends booked A$AP Rocky for the B&&B launch; another was closely involved in the Queen of Cool supermodel Adwoa Aboah headlining the event. Soon after, the higher-ups axed Bread and Butter.

Zalando boasts revenue of 10.1 billion euros (10.6 billion USD). It’s a tech company far more aligned with Amazon than ASOS.

The company acquired a majority stake in Highsnobiety, and I can already see the cracks in the magazine's edgy appeal. No, that's not growth or maturity. Regardless of who owned it, Supreme's swag was clutch.

So, I know Zalando's "Cultural Ties" campaign is a reach. The retailer's attempt to tap "inside streetwear communities" is a shameless plea. And while I appreciate O32c's beautiful dedicated feature (translation for paid advertorial), I know better.